


sailing in the danger zone

by jinxfabray



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pirate, F/M, M/M, POV Multiple, Pirates, i'm not spoiling the endgames but read with caution
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-12-29
Updated: 2014-02-12
Packaged: 2018-01-06 15:51:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1108685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jinxfabray/pseuds/jinxfabray
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Niall wants to get out of his shitty little hometown. Zayn wishes people would stop comparing him to his father. Liam hates his job even though he's the best at it, especially because he has Louis to help him. Harry thinks everything can be cured with herbal tea.</p>
<p>Or a pirate!AU in which they all fight a lot and then also make out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. from here on out

**Author's Note:**

> THIS IS IMPORTANT:  
> 1) this is a collab with dinolouis @ tumblr  
> 2) my pirate vocabulary is very limited please don't yell at me i know they sound very modern don't judgE ME I'M DOING MY BEST  
> 3) there's going to be a bunch of midships and i don't want to spoil the endgames so don't read if you're going to get mad because your otp doesn't end up together (also i didn't include all relationships in the tags because i don't want to spoil it sorry)  
> 4) ships aren't the important thing here this is more of an ot5 thing but there's ships (of all kinds because they're pirates haha. sorry. don't punch me)  
> 5) i promise this is all i'm doing with my life so i'll update as soon as possible but yell at me if i don't i work best under pressure

For most people, living by the sea means having the soothing sound of waves crashing against the shore as their own personal soundtrack to their everyday lives. But Niall can't remember the last time he heard anything that was remotely peaceful, for him living by the sea means being constantly drowned in noise, partly because of the ships that come and go, but mostly because all of the shouting. He's not sure why that happens, the shouting, because it's not like the harbour is that big and he's pretty sure if they weren't all constantly being so loud about everything, they could communicate easily speaking in a normal volume, but it looks like it's physically impossible for anyone who works there to do that. So he's stuck with the yelling, and even though it's been like this since he was a little kid, he still can't get used to being woken up by his mom nearly screeching down the hall like some banshee.

So yes, even after all this time, he still kind of falls out of his bed when it hits his ears, that amazingly high pitched note she always puts on when something's gone wrong with the fish, and he scrambles to his feet with a sigh. Here goes another day, just like all the others. Putting clothes on, skipping down to where his father is unloading the boat, carrying all the hideous, smelly fish back to the shop, setting it all up, opening up the shop. Talking to clients, smiling at everyone, and watching the sun slowly rising and the ships that start coming in. He wonders if there's anyone in those crowded shops that doesn't dream of one of those ships taking them away from their mundane life, but then his mom comes in with that wide grin of hers and he knows she doesn't dream of that. She's probably happy as it is. Most of these people probably are. He's even heard them go on about how sad it is that those poor kids that sign up to travel with the East India Company and barely ever see their families again. But they don't get it, he knows they don't get it, how those kids, just like Niall, have a burning desire inside them that consumes them. An urge to leave their incredibly ordinary lives and go see the world, live adventures, do something that means something, instead of following up with their routines and going to bed every night knowing the only different thing between that day and the one before is the extra ounce they sold to that drunk sailor that had no idea what he was buying.

He feels it every day, and yet he knows that being sixteen, there's very few chances that any of the multiple ships he can see arriving would take him. Not many crews would willingly take on a sixteen year old boy, especially not when he has his parents still around, ready to grab him by the ear and tug him back into the shop. It would take a very irresponsible sailor with enough willpower and interest in Niall joining him to get him on a ship before his mom could tie him to the back of the shop and get him on cleaning duties for the rest of his life.

The sound of a bell snaps him out of his daydream, and there's a grin breaking through his face that his mom rolls her eyes at. It's lunch time and it's the time of the day in which he gets to go stare at the ships, making wishes on drunken sailors falling off board that one of them will kidnap him and take him far away from this mundane life of his. There's a big vessel, part of the East India Company, that's full of men with beards in very white suits. It's astonishing, really, how they manage to keep those suits so shiny and clean after being away for so long. Niall stands in the middle of the crowd, staring up at it with starstruck eyes, and yet he knows he could never be one of those men. He'd be covered in mud within the first hour of being on a ship, and they would probably kick him out right away just because his feet tend to smell a lot, though there's not much he can do about that. He's tried, he truly has, but it's hopeless. Just as he's sighing and about to turn away, he feels an arm around his shoulders, and there's a guy staring up at the ship next to him.

"They suck."

Niall looks at him with his eyes gone wide open and he can't help but laugh so loudly some people turn to look at him. It happens a lot, and the guy appears to be amused by this. He pats him on the shoulder, and looks back at the ship after giving Niall a long look that makes him feel nervous and a little as if he'd been standing naked in front of his entire town.

"If what you want is to get out of this shithole, then I would definitely not recommend the Company, they're boring. And definitely not the Navy either. They are incredibly boring, and they'll yell at you if you wear the same shirt two days in a row. They actually expect people to do laundry, can you believe that? Sailors, doing laundry. So fucked up."

The guy clicks his tongue, and Niall is fascinated by him, can't stop looking at him because he has no idea where he came from but he wants to go there if he'll learn how to be half as cool as him. Besides, he's saying all the things he's had in his mind for years, but he'd never dared say them out loud because there aren't really that many choices outside of the Company or the Navy, unless he wants to starve in some fishing boat, and that doesn't sound like fun either.

"I only have this shirt, so I guess I don't have much of a future with them."

Niall shrugs his shoulders, and the guy laughs at him as if he'd made a terribly funny joke, which makes Niall grin. It's nice to have someone not roll his eyes at him. It's even nicer to have this pair of dashingly blue eyes directed at him with so much interest in them, though it's still making him a little fidgety.

"Well, y'know, my crew was just missing a funny guy. Last one tried to crack a joke too close to the deck and someone laughed so hard they pushed him and he fell, so. If you're interested."

This time, it's the guy that shrugs, and Niall can't quite believe his ears because this is everything he ever wanted except, well, he's getting a feeling this guy's crew might not be into trading precisely.

"I'm Louis, by the way."

Niall looks at him slowly, from head to toes and back up, and okay. There's not much left to question. Louis' covered in tattoos, his clothes are rugged up, and he has a gun on his waist. Plus, there's a mischievous spark in his eyes and honestly, by the smirk alone Niall should have guessed what he was.

"You're inviting me to join your crew of pirates?" He asks very slowly, raising his eyebrows and hoping it doesn't sound like he's outraged at this because he's actually, surprisingly, more interested than he thought. Louis nods, still smirking at him, and there's not much to ponder on, Niall decides. He wants to sail away. He's not going to go through the actual effort of trying to join a proper, decent crew where he might be expected to keep stuff clean or do any actual work. Not when he's being offered a much easier way out. If there's anything Niall loves in life, is getting his way by doing as little as possible. He looks over his shoulder to the shop, where his mom is already starting to glare around, probably looking for him, and he beams at Louis. "Okay. Pirates then."

 

He's not sure what he expected a pirate ship to look like, but it wasn't this, at all. It looks- it looks clean. And it looks just like any regular ship, from the outside, there's not black flag with skulls, and it certainly doesn't look like it's about to sink. But then again, Niall wouldn't have expected a pirate to be as nice and loud as Louis, so clearly he didn't know much about pirates. There's a lot of noise coming from aboard the ship, and the closer they get, the easier it is for Niall to pin point a clear, grave voice that's yelling out instructions. Except it's not so much yelling, it's more like a roaring, and it makes Niall shiver because he didn't think this through, clearly. From what Louis' told him, he's got a pretty high rank, but he's definitely not the captain and if that thunderous voice belongs to him, then Niall is definitely having second thoughts about this.  
They get on the ship, and Louis' smile doesn't falter, not even when the roar is suddenly transformed into his name. Niall thinks he would probably melt into the floor if it was his name that was coming out in such a tone, but Louis just stands there, hands in his hips, a smug smile on his lips, while Niall lingers back, prepared to hide behind him if the captain is half as scary as he's picturing him out to be

Apparently none of his assumptions about pirates are even close to reality, because the guy that comes up to them isn't scary in the slightest. Even if he is frowning and looks severely pissed off, Niall finds himself wanting to poke his bottom lip to see if it's as soft as it looks, and that's not how he imagined this would go. The captain is tall, has broad shoulders and a very serious look on his face. Everything about him reminds Niall of the captains of the Company's ships, he can even see him wearing the crisp and clean uniform instead of the raggedy outfit he's got on now. He stands out like a sore thumb amongst his crew, even if he's dressed like them and has more tattoos than all of them together, because there is something about him that screams mature and responsible in a way that doesn't go at all with the pirate spirit.

"Louis, where have you been? We were supposed to set sail hours ago." His voice is lower now, and his tone is stern but there's a hint of fondness to it that helps Niall understand how Louis can be standing there nonchalantly while getting yelled. He can see it in the way he's looking at them, a spark of irritation blending in with something so warm it dims it down until it's almost gone.

"I'm sorry, Liam, but I was looking for recruits, and look what I found!" Louis puts his hands on Niall's shoulders and shoves him towards the captain, a grin so bright on his face Niall feels his skin growing warm because he's not sure anyone's ever looked that proud of him, and he hasn't even done anything yet. It's probably because he hasn't done anything yet, he realizes. Liam gives him a long look and he sighs so deeply that Niall feels his temporary joy being blown away by his sigh. At least if this captain doesn't approve of him, now he knows he should start looking into joining a pirate crew instead of the stupid Company, so this wasn't a complete waste. It's a shame, though, because he really did like Louis.

"We don't need any more people, Louis, especially not fourteen year olds. Have you ever been on a ship? Don't you have a family to get back to?" Liam keeps reminding Niall of his mother more and more, and he's not so sure he wants to join his crew anymore. He thought being a pirate would be fun, but if this is the person giving out the orders, he might as well stay at home.

"I'm not fourteen, and no, I haven't ever been on a ship, and yeah, I do have a family but I was looking for a new one because the one I have is boring." He doesn't even think before replying and he regrets having even spoken at all when he sees the look on Liam's face, but Louis throws an arm around him, once again laughing as if he's the funniest person on Earth.

"Please, Liam, can we keep him? I'll look after him, I swear. We need someone fun on this ship, I can't always be the life of the party. What if I get sick? Who'll make that stupid frown of yours go away, huh?" As he talks, Louis steps forward and actually pokes at Liam's brows until his expression relaxes, and okay, this isn't what Niall thought pirates were like either.

"Fine, but he's your responsibility. Find him something to do, and I hope you don't regret swearing to take care of him." Liam says with yet another resigned sigh, and he walks away, once again yelling out things as the people around them keep on moving while the ship slowly starts to set sail. Niall looks back at the harbour, unable to stop smiling, and Louis pats his back gently.

"You won't regret this, you know. But just don't expect it to smell any better here than it did in your fish shop, because it probably smells worse. And ignore Liam, he just likes to pretend he's some sort of tough guy so the crew will respect him, but really he's a huge softie. Now, let's see what you got."

 

It turns out, Niall hasn't got anything. The first place Louis sends him to is the kitchen, where a very small girl appears to be running everything on her own while a bunch of assistants hover awkwardly in a corner, not daring to do anything. Louis introduces her as Jade, and asks her to actually give Niall something to do instead of adding him to the group of useless people she won't let come near her kitchen, and that goes as well as you'd expect considering he's never cooked anything in his life before. He gets kicked out within the first hour because Jade categorizes him as a hazard and she's probably right, considering he was pretty close to setting the wood burning stove on fire after knocking into a barrel of apples that spilled all over the kitchen. His head is left ringing from how much Jade yells at him, and once again, this ship feels a little too much like home for Niall's comfort.

After that, he's handed a mop and a bucket, and Louis smiles brightly because no one could possibly burn anything while on cleaning duty. He's right, and for a while Niall is pretty content to have found something he can actually do that's useful. He's cleaning the deck without paying much attention to it because it's a pirate ship after all, and he figures no pirate would ever be too preoccupied with something like this, but he feels weird, as if he's being watched. He's humming happily to himself when suddenly he spots Liam, his arms folded over his chest, glaring at him.

"What are you even doing?" Niall raises an eyebrow at the question, and Louis appears out of the blue, putting an arm around Liam and turning him away from him, so he carefully walks a little closer, trying to eavesdrop and find out what the fuck he did to make the captain this upset. Maybe pirate ships aren't meant to be clean and Louis was screwing with him, but if that's the case, then he doesn't understand why the ship looks impeccable.

"... he's not doing it properly and honestly, Lou, he'll end up getting it dirtier and I have enough to deal with as it is."

Liam's voice is a little frantic and Niall has to bite down on his lip very hard to keep himself from bursting into laughter because it's just his luck to be recruited by these people.

"We're pirates, Li, we're not supposed to clean our shoes before stepping on deck." Louis sighs and there's so much resignation in it that Niall knows this is a lost battle, and he's not surprised when they both turn to him and Louis gestures with his head for him to follow him. "Come on, I'll just drop you off with Perrie and you can help her with whatever it is she's doing until we find you something better."

Niall does as he's told, still smiling a little too widely and on the verge of giggling, especially because he has the feeling if he turns around he'll see his almighty Captain moping the floor with a very determined look on his face. It's only when they're far enough from him and going down some stairs that he dares speak again, hoping he won't crack and start laughing until his stomach hurts.

"I thought having girls aboard was bad luck?"

The look Louis shoots him pierces right through his skull, and he shakes his head. "Don't let Perrie hear you say that or she'll feed you to the sharks. We don't believe in that bullshit, and you shouldn't either. The only reason sailors have always been against letting women join them is because they fear they will outwit them and take over the world."

To say Niall's impressed is an understatement, and for the first time since they set sail, he feels a tug at his heart because hearing Louis speak, there's a very specific woman that comes to his mind and he knows every single pirate would be terrified of her if they met her. And they should be, because she could probably take them all down by snapping her fingers.

"And we might just do that, you know, if we weren't so fond of our little quartermaster" A blonde girl comes up to meet them, with a bottle of wine in each hand, and she leans in to kiss Louis' cheek, her smile so contagious Niall thinks he may have just found exactly where he wants to work. "Come on, little twinkle, I'm sorting out our last shipload and there is too much alcohol for me to handle."

Niall follows her into a cabin overflowing with chests, and he hears Louis' laughter as he goes back upstairs. "Shipload, she calls it" he hears him saying and oh. He takes a second look around, and if he's being honest, it hadn't hit him until now that this is a pirate ship. They're pirates. They steal stuff. They probably murder people too. It's hard to picture, with Liam's earnest looks and Louis' bright smile, but he figures they probably do. He can't stop glancing at Perrie now, wondering if she's done it too. Trying to imagine her sticking a knife through someone's heart, instead of piling up barrels and sitting at the top while craddling a bottle of wine.

"When I said sorting out, I meant getting rid of as much wine as I can before Louis drinks it all because we need him sober while we're at sea." Perrie says suddenly, snapping him out of his daydream. "And by getting rid I mean drinking it, if you're up for it."

It turns out to be the best possible job Niall could have ever dreamed of, because even if he's never been too much of a wine guy, he finds it incredibly easy to get used to the taste after he's gulped down his first bottle, and it's much closer to what he expected a pirate's life to be like. He's drunk, happy, with no responsibilities and away from home. It feels exactly like he expected, even if there are so many things that he still doesn't understand about this crew.

"So Niall" Perrie's slowly making her way down from the mountain of barrels she built for herself, and she plops down in front of him with a deep sigh, an empty bottle of wine landing between her legs. "You ran away from home, didn't you, twinkle?"

Niall nods, and that movement alone makes the entire room spin around him and he might be a little more drunk than he thought he was.

"This is probably not a good time to be asking because it's too late to go back, but won't you miss it? Your family, or whatever it is you're leaving behind? You seem so young and so whole, you don't look like the other kids that we get around here."

He has no idea what she means by that, but he smiles and replies anyway. "I won't miss my family. I had enough of them for a lifetime, I've been seeing my mom and dad every single day for sixteen years and they're- they're a little too much to be around for so long." He shrugs his shoulders, and Perrie nods like she understands, but he knows she doesn't. She can't know what it's like to be always getting yelled at, always running around, working since he could walk. He loves his family, he truly does, but he won't miss them for a while.

"But there's, there's a girl, I guess." Perrie leans in closer, her eyes getting bright like she's already caught up in the story he hasn't even started telling. "She's beautiful. No offense, but she's the most beautiful person I've ever seen. And she's- she's intimidating." He laughs, gazing away from Perrie as his brain starts to get filled with images of her, her laughter echoing in his ears. "She's smart, so incredibly smart, and that's what makes her so intimidating, that she's always one step ahead of everyone. She's always got the upper hand and she knows it, and she thinks it's hilarious how no one can keep up with her. But at the same time she has a huge heart and she's always helping everyone, and- and she was too much for me." His eyes fall on Perrie again and he sees her smile dropping a little. "She was. I'll miss her, but it's alright because I wouldn't have ever been enough for her. She probably won't notice I'm gone until she needs someone to run errands for her."

Perrie's still smiling wistfully, and she reaches out to pat his shoulder gently. "You might have not been good enough for her, but you're definitely too good for any of us on this goddamned ship."

 

Days turn into weeks and living the calm life they lead aboard the Rising Sun makes it easy to forget they're not on a cargo boat or some sort of merchant ship. All Niall does is eat and help Perrie sort out the insane amounts of trash they took from their last round up. The way in which Perrie keeps referring to what they do with words like that makes Niall consider he was probably right thinking she didn't exactly fit the profile of a merciless pirate. She's too sweet, too loud and bright in a way that's too pure for him to picture her doing anything evil. But then again, so far he hasn't seen any of them doing anything remotely cruel, and he knows best than to judge a book by its cover, especially under these circumstances.

The most surprising one of them all is still Liam. He rules his crew with an iron fist, roaring his orders and grunting when someone messes up, but at the same time, he pats them all on the back when they get something done before he has to ask, and he's always complimenting them and congratulating them on their hard work in a way that would remind Niall of primary school hadn't he been in the 17th century and completely unaware of what that is. It's impossible for him to understand how a guy like this ends up being the captain of a pirate ship out of all things, when he looks like the perfect member of the Navy that everyone would praise and give medals to simply for existing.  
It's been a month already when Louis announces loudly they're going to be arriving at Tortuga very soon. Niall's heart speeds up at this because he's heard a lot about the island, and he knows this is when he'll start seeing them as they truly are. It's exciting but a little terrifying, since he doesn't know if he's ready to have the image he's built of them in his head destroyed. He's grown fond of them all, and just thinking that the same bubbly Louis that spilled wine all over his clothes because Liam poked his belly button at dinner and he couldn't repress his laughter the night before might reveal himself as a cruel murderer makes his stomach do weird flips. This is yet another moment in which he realizes he didn't think this through at all, and he prays he won't regret having followed his gut and joining this crew without taking an instant to consider what being a pirate might actually involve.  
Tortuga is loud in a way that reminds him of home, with salesmen yelling all around and ships coming in constantly, but it's a lot darker and it smells of rum instead of fish. No one seems to smile half as much as they did back at Niall's little harbour, and as they start getting lost in the crowd, he notices most of the people around there are drunkenly stumbling with no set direction, so he doesn't expect anything else when Louis heads straight into the first pub they see. It's only fair that they get in the same mood everyone else is in, he explains as he heads towards the bar, Liam leading him as always.

Like everywhere else in the island, the pub feels like an anthill with people buzzing all around in an overwhelming manner, so it's no wonder they lose each other on their way to the bar. Louis wishes he didn't feel lost so easily without Liam, but the moment he loses sight of him he feels trapped in the crowd and it becomes a lot harder to get out. It's ridiculous and he'll never admit to anyone, but when he finally spots Liam's broad shoulders ahead of him, he grins to himself, feeling relieved already. He elbows his way to him, but when he's almost there he stops dead on his tracks.

Throughout the years, Louis has come to accept the fact that his relationship with his captain is a little out of the ordinary, but that doesn't explain the murderous rage he feels at the sight he's stumbled upon. They're merely looking at each other, or possibly talking in a very low voice, and it shouldn't make him feel like this because he doesn't own Liam, and he's allowed to do whatever he pleases, but there is something about the way he's eyeing that guy that makes Louis feel like going on a killing spree. Had it been anyone else, he might have been able to talk himself out of it, but he knows exactly who this person is, and it only makes everything worse because out of all the people he could have found Liam staring at, it's just his luck that it is fucking Zayn Malik.

"Captain." He says, putting his hands on his hips and dragging his vowels, as if calling him that alone isn't enough to tick Liam off. He turns to him, breaking eye contact, and Louis can't help but rejoice when Zayn glares at him.

"Is this that quartermaster of yours?" Zayn asks, and Louis fears his face might break from how wide his grin has become. Liam was talking about him, and even though he still wants to murder Zayn slow and painfully, at least now he doesn't want to go on killing thousands of other people anymore. Just this one will do.

"Malik. I thought you'd retreated into some lost cave in the Southern Pacific, I can't say it's nice to see you're back around here."

Liam's eyes dart between the two of them nervously, and Louis walks until he's standing between them, putting a hand on Liam's arm as he leans on the bar and snaps his fingers to get them both their grogs. He can feel Liam's pulse picking up and it's comforting to know he can tell there's going to be a fight any minute now, because he really didn't want to be the one to tell him that his new friend doesn't exactly get on with his best friend, so he'll have to forget all about him, and the sooner the better.

"Tomlinson." Zayn's voice is sharper than his dagger, and Louis can testify to this. He stands up, and gives one last look at Liam that Louis wishes he could erase because he has no right to be looking at his Liam like that. And no, he doesn't want to dwell on when he started referring to his Captain as his Liam, because that is not the point at the moment. The point is that Zayn is looking up at him from under his eyelashes in that stupidly seductive way of his, and Liam looks like he's choking on something. Louis can't decide whether he wants to slap him out of it or focus solely on ripping Zayn's nails out of his fingers.

"Now, now, leave my Captain alone, we don't mingle with your kind of people." Louis says, gesturing for him to walk away, but Zayn stays still, raising a questioning eyebrow at him.

"My kind of people?" He asks, crossing his arms over his chest, and Liam is giving Louis a look so alarmed he knows exactly what he's trying to tell him with his eyes, but he's going to ignore it because he's had enough of Liam trying to be at peace with everyone around them. They're pirates, for fuck's sake, they should be getting into fights and shooting at people, not chatting amicably and holding hands. He doesn't know why the image of Liam holding hands with Zayn appeared in his mind, but it's not helping him keep his calm and he'll blame his answer on that disturbing mental picture later on.

"Aye, the merciless killers kind." He says and he can see from the corner of his eye that Liam's given up on trying to stop him from burying his own grave. "Burnt any towns down lately, Zayn? Isn't that what daddy taught you?"

It's such a low blow and he knows it, but he still gets a kick out of seeing Zayn's eyes storming with rage. He's not the easiest to get riled up, but Louis knows perfectly well what a mention of his father does to him, and it's rather satisfying to see he can still do that to him.

"You really need to learn to keep your mouth shut, bilge rat. Picking a fight with me should be the last thing you'd want to do if you were any wiser."

Louis sighs and shrugs his shoulders, ignoring blatantly the little voice in the back of his head that tells him he's going to go deaf from how much Liam will yell at him from this. As if on queue, he stands up and puts his large hand on Louis' shoulder, starting to drag him away.

"Come on, Lou, leave it."

"No, come at us, Malik, if you think you're so tough. I'll make you run and hide like the scared little kid you are." He keeps shouting as Liam forcefully drags him out the pub, the rest of his crew slowly following them. There's a look on all of their faces that tells Louis he may have taken it a step too far, challenging someone he knows is twice as cruel as his reputation makes him out to be, and now that the rush of adrenaline is leaving him, he's realizing he will probably regret it. He likes his ship as it is, and he may have just bought it two or three holes that will take months to fix, if they don't get away from Zayn soon enough.

"He looked pretty pissed, mate." Niall says, coming up to him and scrunching up his face. Liam just sighs, and starts gathering everyone and directing them back towards the ship, not turning back to him until he's made sure they've all left the pub in one piece.

"Was it worth it? Getting him riled up like that? What did he even do to you?" He asks, his expression so serious Louis feels his heart sinking in his chest because the last thing he wants is to let Liam down, and yet he keeps doing it, over and over.

"Nothing. But you- you were being all friendly, and you have no idea what he's like. You're too new to this, Liam, and he's been around since he was five. That guy in there, he killed a person when he was ten. Ten, do you understand that? He's not the kind of person you should be making allies with, and I had to get you out of there."

He's out of breath by the end of the sentence and he doesn't know why, doesn't understand why everything seems to be happening so much on this night, why his heart has been beating this fast ever since he walked into the pub. But Liam nods like he understands, and he pats him on the shoulder.

"Well then. Guess we should get going then. We might be able to outrun him if we get a headstart, and I think Jade was done picking up the stuff we needed anyway."

 

This isn't the first time it happens and Zayn should know better than to let Louis get under his skin that easily, but he can't help it. He doesn't get quickly riled up, and coming from anyone else, he would have brushed off the insults and the mention of his father, but he sees the way Louis' eyes sparkle when he says it and he can tell he's doing it on purpose because he knows too much. More than anyone else, and Zayn hates him for it. He hates him with a passion because every single time he runs into him, it's like running straight into his past.

He walks out of the pub running a shaky hand through his hair, and he has to lean against the wall for a moment, breathe in the fresh air and wait until the world settles down around him once again. Until the flashing images of those blue eyes glaring at him from behind crossed swords fades away, and he can walk in a straight line again. He does just that, not even bothering to check if his crew is following him, knowing half of them are still aboard the ship anyway.  
It's still a little surprising how he doesn't have to say anything and yet Harry is right there, closing his cabin's door behind him and getting him a mug full of rum and who knows what else, because Harry has some weird ideas about beverages, but Zayn accepts it and takes a long gulp as he closes his eyes. He trusts Harry with his life every single day, and he's not going to start doubting him now, even if that drink does look a little too greenish, but it tastes exactly like what he needed. It's warm and it makes him loosen up, so he's not clenching his jaw anymore and his fingers aren't digging into the chair.

"What happened?" Harry says softly, kneeling at his side like a loyal puppy and Zayn almost wants to pat his untamed curls and tell him to go to bed. But this is his quartermaster and even if they're behind closed doors he needs to stay in character. He's got a crew that relies on him staying their cruel, cold hearted captain, and a five minute encounter with soft, brown eyes and some flashbacks can't be all it takes to make his walls go down. Not even with Harry.

"Nothing. But we have to change course." He replies, taking another thoughtful sip, still trying to figure out what exactly is that he's drinking.

"Aye." Harry nods and stands up, his face falling a little and Zayn knows he's disappointed because he didn't let him in. He'll deal with that later. "Where to?"

"You know the Rising Sun?" Harry nods because of course he knows it, that fucking ship with its fucking crew that have been ruling the seas for a good four years now. The more Zayn thinks about it, the more he wants to wreck them. Granted, he wants to wreck Liam in a different way than the others, and in a way he doesn't think he should be even considering, but he can't help the urge to see those innocent big eyes pleading at him, those wonderfully pink and full lips panting because of him. And it's wrong, he shouldn't have that on his mind, and the fact that's so insistently showing up in his imagination makes him even angrier.

"Are we finally going after them?" is all Harry asks, and Zayn raises his eyebrows because he's pretty sure he didn't say any of that out loud, did he? "The crew's been saying we should for a while now. They're getting famous, and they did sack two of the last three towns we had our sights set on before we got to them." He watches Harry shrugging his shoulders as if he was suggesting they invite them over for tea, and Zayn has yet another one of those moments in which he wishes Harry had never joined his crew because he looks so young and innocent, and yet at times like these he remembers he's just as corrupted as the rest of them and it hurts him a little, to think he did that to him.

"We're going after them, yeah." He says standing up and leaving his mug of grog on the table. "They've grown too confident, it's time to remind them we were here first."

He tries not to think of how little attention he's been paying to the world around him that he hadn't noticed this ship taking over their position as the second most feared one around. He's been captain of his ship for a good eight years now, and it took a long time for him and his crew to start being recognized as anything but a bunch of misfits. The fact that his father has been the cruelest pirate on their side of the ocean ever since he set sail for the first time doesn't exactly help, it's a tremendously huge boot to fill and Zayn does his best, but he thinks he doesn't have it in him to be as ruthless. But he worked very hard and got himself very far, and then- then Payne came along. He's not sure where they came from, and he's heard none of the members of his crew come from pirate families. They were all recruited not long ago, and from what he's been told by his own crew, most of them hadn't even been at sea before going aboard the Rising Sun. When they started out, everyone thought they'd fail, and disappear in the blink of an eye, but they didn't. They aren't as fearsome as the others, but they are very organized and restless, and soon they'd taken over the seas, earning everyone's respect because of their hard work, whereas Zayn's ship is mostly feared because everyone knows he wouldn't blink before slicing someone's throat if they cross him on a bad day.

It makes Zayn want to set them all on fire. It's not supposed to be like that, pirates aren't supposed to be like that, there is something intrinsically wrong about that ship and its crew, and especially about that soft looking captain of theirs that he just can't get out of his mind. So yeah, they're going after them.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm sorry this is short but it is my summer break and i've been travelling so it took me a very long time to put this together.  
> as usual, comments are like crack but in a good way

Before sitting down, Harry takes a banana out of his back pocket and starts peeling it as he takes his place, cross legged in front of Niall. It would have made Niall laugh if it wasn't because so far in this day he's witnessed things much weirder than a pirate calmly eating a banana and sitting down to chat with him when he's supposed to be watching over him. He is their prisoner, after all, but Harry seems to have a very strange notion of what that means.

  
"So we're supposed to wait until the tide rises and leave you here if they don't come to your rescue." Harry explains as he chews on his banana, having first offered it to Niall who very politely shook his head at the offer. He's still waiting for Zayn to show up and gag him or something of the like, because so far this has been nothing as he'd thought being hostage would be and though he knows it's probably weird of him, he feels a little disappointed.

"They'll come. Liam's probably trying to get Lou to calm down so they can do something sensible instead of barging in on your ship with swords." He shrugs his shoulders, because he has no doubts they'll be here any minute. It doesn't worry him in the slightest, he's known these people for about a month and though he doesn't trust all of them completely, he knows Louis is probably fuming with rage that Zayn got past their watches and he's definitely feeling guilty because he told Liam he'd take care of him. He may not trust them, but he trusts Louis' anger and his fear of disappointing Liam with his life.

"You've got a pretty tight crew, don't you?" Harry asks, resting his elbows on his knees and there's a hint of sadness in his voice that makes Niall want to reach out and pat his curly head, but he can't because he's got his hands tied behind his back. So he limits his reply to shrugging his shoulders, and thinks for a moment of the people he's been living with this past month, how easily they welcomed him into their family, how warm they've all been towards him, and he can't help but grin.

"Aye. Liam is like a mother hen to everyone, he keeps them all tucked up under his wings and cuddles them more than I reckon is normal for a pirate, but it works for us." He says, expecting Harry to laugh at this, but instead he seems to be giving it some thought, and stays quiet for a moment. Niall worries he might have said something wrong, or given away something he shouldn't, but it's hard to remember Harry's part of an enemy crew when he's sitting there with his goddamn banana, being nice and charming in all sorts of ways.  
Just as Niall's about to add something else to break the awkward silence, Harry finally stops frowning and speaks again, looking pleased with himself. "It's probably because they're not real pirates. Real pirates wouldn't stand for that."

This stirs something inside Niall for some reason, suddenly making him feel pissed off at Harry for dismissing his crew like that when they've come so far and they're so good at what they do and if he didn't have his hands tied, he'd punch him. Okay, maybe not punch because Harry's been so nice so far he doesn't deserve that, but maybe he'd slap him. Or pinch him. Probably pinch him, yeah. "What's that supposed to mean?" He asks instead, hoping he sounds as enraged as he is.

"Oh no, I didn't mean to offend you. Don't take this the wrong way, I'm not saying they're bad at it or anything, but you must have noticed no one in Liam's crew comes from a pirate family. I bet half of them hadn't even stepped on a ship before Liam recruited them. I can promise you if they'd been raised aboard pirate ships, they wouldn't want to be patted on the back when they do something correctly."

Although he looks calm and collected, Niall can still feel how Harry's mood has grown a lot gloomier, and he thinks of Zayn and how stern and cold he looked the one time he saw him. He fits the image he had in his head of a pirate much better, but now that he's been on the Rising Sun for a while, he realizes he wouldn't have lasted a day under the orders of someone like that. He sees Harry looking away, and wishes he could take him back. He looks so much like a lost kitten when he pouts like that, and Niall knows Liam and Louis could cuddle the smile back to his face, whereas Zayn- well, he just doesn't see Zayn smiling and petting those wild curls to make Harry feel better. It doesn't add up, how they are partners, and he wants to say something to Harry about it, ask him why he doesn't leave, but he beats him to it.

"My parents died when I was a kid, and Zayn has been looking after me ever since. He took me in and gave me a job and let me join his crew even when I knew nothing about being on a ship. His dad, and mine too, they were pirates. And they were cruel, like, like you'd expect a pirate to be. They had to keep their crew under control and it was made up entirely of people just like them, who'd been killing people and sacking towns since they were six, so they were always threating with mutiny. They couldn't afford to be nice and caring, not even to their kids. They couldn't show weakness."

Harry's tone is low and he's more serious than Niall's ever seen him, which isn't saying much considering this is the first time he's seen him, but it's still impressive because he actually looks somewhat menacing and he didn't expect that at all from Harry. It makes sense, though, considering what he's just told him, but Niall still can't picture this kid with wide innocent eyes being surrounded by the type of people he describes. If he had to imagine what Harry's childhood was like, he would have immediately thought of loving parents and probably a dog. A big dog, possibly a golden retriever, one of those that are always licking you all over and are usually found annoying by most people unless they are excessively cheerful themselves as well.

"That doesn't sound too nice," he finally brings himself to say, as he shuffles a bit to get more comfortable in the little boat they are in. The sea looks pretty calm, but he knows the tide is about to rise and he needs to be away from there when it does, or at least untied so he can swim to solid ground.  
"It wasn't." Harry replies shortly and resumes to eating his banana, falling silent for a short moment, and when he speaks again it's with such candor that Niall is slightly taken aback.

"What about you? How was life at wherever it was Payne took you away from?"

"No one took me away from anywhere." Niall says, his tone guarded as he immediately jumps to the defense of his beloved captain, though he figures Harry means no harm. It makes him wonder, that he says that, if Zayn's crew has taken kids from their homes when they needed someone to wash the decks, and the idea of Harry being involved in such things makes him shiver. "Don't laugh at me, okay, my story isn't as dramatic as any of yours, I just got bored with my family life. It was the same thing day after day, washing fish, catching fish, selling fish. If it hadn't been for Gemma..."

Harry's head snaps up so quickly at this Niall fears he might get whiplash from it. "Gemma? Is there a girl in Niall's life?" he asks, and Niall blushes so deeply he thinks he might be actually burning up for real from how hot his face feels. He looks down, rubbing at the back of his neck, trying to avoid Harry's eyes but he's looking at him very insistently.

"Well- Not really. She's just a friend." He shrugs his shoulder, but Harry's still looking at him like he's got the most interesting secret in the world and he knows he won't get out of this one without giving out some more information. "I'd rather she was more, but she's too cool for me. She's probably too cool for any guy that's ever existed, to be honest." He can't hold back a sigh as he says this, his mind filling up with memories of everything he misses about her, especially the sound of her laughter that rings clearly as if he was hearing it right now.

"I knew a girl named Gemma once who was too good for everyone too." Harry says, and Niall realizes he hasn't seen him smile in a while now, but he doesn't look deadly serious as he did before. Now he just looks, well, melancholic. "My sister. She, um, passed away." There's a very big, very heavy silence that falls between them and Niall is at a complete loss for words, until Harry speaks again. "There was a fire in our town. My mom- my family, and Zayn's, they were all there. No one got out of there, we were lucky enough that we were at sea when it happened, with our dads."

It makes no sense to Niall how Harry keeps opening up to him, telling him stories about his life when he's supposed to be a cruel pirate from an enemy crew that's set out to burn down their ship, but he chooses not to question him on that right now, not when he's looking so sad and distraught. Suddenly, there's the sound of a bell coming from very far away and Harry is as startled by it as Niall.

"It's dinner time, we should get going. I have to cook tonight." He says, and as he starts leading the boat back to the ship, Niall once again decides to stay quiet about what's on his mind because hey, if Harry's decided not to leave him tied there until he drowns, he's not going to fight him on it. It sounds like a pretty solid choice to him, since he quite does appreciate being alive and all. Harry seems to have forgotten all about the whole tide thing until they are getting back on board of their ship, and Zayn is standing with his arms crossed and his brow furrowed.

"Harry, what is he doing back here?"

Niall still doesn't know much about Harry, definitely not enough to say he can pretend to know how he's feeling from looking at the back of his head, but he does catch the panicked look he sends in his direction and he drops his head in a way that's obvious enough. So no, Harry hadn't intended to spare him his life, he just forgot he was supposed to end it. It's not very comforting, especially now that he's back in the ship and Zayn and his scary crew all have their eyes set on them. There is something off about the way everyone else looks at Harry, and Niall suspects they have all noticed how much a sweet kid like him stands out in this crew of merciless criminals.

"You were supposed to tie him up and abandon him on the rocks, not bring him over for dinner. For fuck's sake, can't I trust you with anything? Do you know how this makes us look?" Zayn's voice sounds like he's trying really hard to keep himself from yelling at them, and one doesn't have to be a genius to figure out he doesn't want his crew hearing him. Niall feels the pieces starting to click together in his mind, how Zayn looks so incredibly frustrated, as if he'd known all along Harry didn't have it in him to do such a thing, but he still gave him the job, he still keeps him in the highest possible rank as he can, and he can picture them clearly now. Two little kids running among cruel pirates, Harry cheerfully thinking it was all a game and trying to get them to lend him their weapons to play swords, and Zayn having to look out for him. He might be wrong, he's assuming a lot for the little he's seen, but from the glares Harry's getting, the tears that prickle the corners of his eyes as he looks between Zayn and Niall, and the helpless way in which Zayn reaches out and drops his arm before he gets to touch him, he's pretty sure he's not far from being right.

It all lasts a fraction of seconds too small for anyone outside of their little bubble to notice, and soon enough Zayn's mouth is in a straight line and there's nothing left of the rush of emotions Niall thinks he saw a moment ago, but Harry's still looking like a puppy left out in the rain.

"You're useless, Harry, it was a simple job and you should have been back hours ago, I can't believe this." Zayn's done trying to keep quiet, and he's nearly shouting now, which makes both Harry and Niall take a step back because the truth is, the angrier he gets, the scarier he looks, and Niall is wishing he could find a way to quietly get out of his way when he hears a familiar voice behind him.

"Hey, give us our blondie back!" Louis shouts and suddenly him and Liam are on the ship's deck. From the look on Liam's face, Niall would dare say this isn't exactly how the plan was supposed to go, but then again, Louis never does well with plans. Especially not with ones that involve sneaking into places quietly, since quiet is not a word he knows the meaning of.

Everyone aboard the ship is taken aback for a moment, but in the blink of an eye they are all pointing their swords at them, and Niall could swear he sees Liam face palming for real, as if he can't believe Louis has actually dragged him into this.

"What is meaning of this?" says Zayn, his sword out as well, and Louis attempts to take a step towards him but is stopped by a couple of tall, tough guys pointing weapons at him.

"You heard what I said, Malik, we want Niall back. One cute boy per ship is all that's allowed, and you've already got Curly, so give us our powder monkey and we'll let you live." Louis says as loud as ever, actually pointing his finger at Harry as he speaks, and this really does leave everyone frozen for a little longer. Both Harry and Zayn blush deeply, and Niall is rather confused by the latter doing so, but he's also trying not to think too much of what Louis just called him, especially since Liam's face very clearly indicates he should be forgetting this whole thing ever happened as soon as possible.

"You'll let me live?" Zayn finally replies, chuckling darkly and grabbing Niall by the arm. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but you're the one who's surrounded completely by my men, and I'm the one holding the knive to your precious Niall's throat." He speaks slowly and as he says it, lifts the blade and presses it gently against Niall's skin, Louis' eyes setting on that very spot as he frowns.

"Wait, wait. There's no need to do this, I know Louis was a bit of a dick but he can apologize and we'll sort this out like gentlemen." Liam's first words cause an uproar of laughter among Zayn's crew, which causes him to blush and Niall sighs -carefully, though, because he does have a blade pressed against his throat at the current time- because he is so far from what pirates are supposed to be like that he can't help but wonder how a person like that ever manages to sack a town without apologizing at least five hundred times.

"There's not a single gentleman aboard this ship, babe." Zayn replies, lifting his eyebrows at him and instead of sounding threatening, he actually sounds, well, flirty, and Niall would chuckle if his life wasn't in danger. "Just a bunch of very pissed off and blood starving criminals, so I'd say yeah, there's every need to do this."

The situation looks rather grim for all three of the members of the Rising Sun's crew, and they all look at each other, painfully aware of this. They're outnumbered, and Zayn doesn't appear to have any intentions of letting them go, so only a miracle can save them now. Niall glances around, hoping to find some help in Harry, but he's sitting pretty far behind them and isn't paying attention to any of what's happening around him. He looks sad and lost, and if he hadn't realized recently of how hopeless his current state is, Niall would have felt bad for him, but he is somewhat responsible for it all even if he didn't mean for any of it to happen, so he decides he'll do that later.

Luckily for them, not all of Liam's recruiting choices were based on how pretty their eyes were, so there's actually some useful people aboard, and miracle takes shape in a blonde girl who suddenly shows up, a knife between her teeth as she jumps aboard. Having every pirate on the ship pointing at Liam was a crappy idea on Zayn's behalf, because there was no one guarding anything else, and there's half of Liam's crew climbing aboard all of a sudden. Niall doesn't see how this is going to do anything but get more people killed, until someone speaks up from behind them.

"Gentlemen are no good anyway." Leigh-Anne says, while mirroring Zayn's position but holding Harry instead, her own sharp knife on him. "Now, it looks like we've reached an impasse, so how about we both put our knives down and everyone gets to go home with their own mascot safe and sound, or we'll give you the bloodbath you want so much."  
Niall hasn't seen much of Leigh-Anne but he's heard Perrie talk about her enough that he feels like he knows her well already. He knows she's one of the fiercest fighters, and had been a slave in Perrie's family before they'd both run away and joined the crew. It's hard to picture her taking orders from anyone with her attitude, and from where he's standing, he can spot scars over most of her skin which tell him she probably didn't do with that very well. Looking back around, he sees everyone's ready to fight, and the change in his friends' faces is a little scary. Liam has this set determination on his face as he pulls out his sword, and okay, now he gets how they have managed to turn into one of the most feared ships on this side of the world. They're still severely outnumbered, but Niall figures if he was their enemy, he would still be very much afraid of the ferocity in their eyes.

"Leave him alone." Zayn's voice quivers, the sight of Harry in grave danger getting the best of him, and he's unable to tear his eyes from him. He looks scared, so scared, and this is all his fault. He can't keep him out of danger, no matter how hard he tries, but this time he actually has a chance and curse him if he's not going to take it. "You leave him and I'll give you Niall, and they can stay out of the fight."

It's the best deal they're going to get, and apart from them two, everyone else seems to be actually eager to get on with the battle, so Liam gives Leigh-Anne a short nod, and both her and Zayn put their knives down. Niall instantly runs hide behind Louis' back, and he gets shoved gently towards the little boat in which they came when trying to sneak in, whereas Harry just takes a couple of step backs before he disappears in the captain's cabin, not without looking back at Zayn first. It's a long look, so heavily charged with something that no one else seems to quite pick up, but Zayn knows exactly what it means, and it breaks his heart.

 

It's a very long fight, but Liam's still got quite a few of his crew members aboard his own ship and soon enough the Rising Sun is close enough to throw ropes at them and get them back on it, so there's no more than a couple of casualties that Zayn takes care of by throwing their dead bodies to the sea. Liam and Louis are the last ones fighting, and Liam seems to want to take the bodies of those of his crew with him, but Louis drags him away by the wrist and nearly shoves him off the ship until he grabs a rope and jumps away.

As soon as they're gone, Zayn shouts some orders for someone to finish up getting rid of the dead before they start rotting and for the wounded ones to go patch themselves up, and he ducks into his own cabin, locking the door behind him. It's night time by now, and there's a single candle in the middle of the room that barely sheds enough light for him to spot Harry all curled up in himself in Zayn's bunk, his face turned to the wall.

"I'm sorry." He says, kneeling down besides it and reaching out to touch Harry's back. It doesn't take more than that to get him to turn around, and his eyes are bloodshot, which in any other pirate would mean he'd been drinking, but Zayn knows Harry's just been crying.

"Don't be." Harry sits up, rubbing at his eyes, and Zayn pulls up a chair to sit in front of him. When he sits down, Harry stands up and he's about to follow him when he gestures for him to stay. "I'll bring tea. I could use tea." He says in a low, hoarse voice, and then he's back with two mugs of tea. The whole scene is so out of character for two pirates to be having in the captain's cabin, but when it's just him and Harry, Zayn sometimes forget he's supposed to be a cruel mercenary, and they're just two boys, cuddling up and drinking warm tea to try and forget about their crappy days.

"But I am, you know I didn't mean those things. I just, I have a reputation to uphold. We can't have the crew turning on us, especially not on me, and I can't come off as forgiving or they'll eat me alive. You know all these things, don't you?" He says, reaching out and putting his hand on Harry's knee, gently squeezing it.

"I know, but I also know you're right. I'm useless. I'm no good at this, you should have kicked me out of the ship ages ago. There's no point in having me here, Zayn, and we both know that. I can't even be mean to someone for more than two seconds, and I'm supposed to be murdering people and robbing them of their belongings without blinking?" Harry speaks slowly, and he's so disappointed with himself that it only makes Zayn feel even worse because he's done so much damage to this sweet, innocent boy. He's put him under so much pressure, made him expect things from himself that he knew he couldn't do, things that weren't worthy of his kind soul, things he shouldn't have ever even witnessed other people do.

"You're not useless, don't say that. You're my quartermaster and no one's killed you off yet, so you can't be useless." He replies, furrowing his brow with concern.

"They haven't killed me because they're scared of you, not because they think I'm any good. I bet they all dream of doing it, they just don't dare." Harry shrugs his shoulders and sips on his tea. "Your own dad nearly pushed me off the ship the minute mine died. You've been saving my life since I was eight, and I'm sorry you're just now realizing what every one of these men around us knew all along, but you honestly shouldn't have."

Zayn doesn't even think before jumping to his side and wrapping his arms around him, because after all these years, he can spot the small quiver in Harry's voice that says he's about to start crying even when he's trying his hardest to hide it. The minute he's holding him, Harry falls apart, giving in and letting himself be embraced as tears start rolling down his cheeks.

"I'm sorry, Zayn, I'm so sorry. I've tried so much, but I can't do anything right. I'll never be good enough for you to keep me around, just leave me in some town and don't look back. Please, I can't do this anymore."

Zayn hugs him tighter as Harry buries his face in the crook of his neck, nearly sobbing now. "I'm sorry too. I should have let you go back and have a normal life when you had the chance, but I couldn't risk it, I've seen what happens to foundlings, what if some other crew had tried taking you away? I was supposed to keep you and look after you, I'm sorry, I've done a shitty job, but I was just- I was just trying to keep you safe. I'm so sorry."

It's late, and there's no sound in the ship but the songs of the few drunken sailors that are still awake, and the short, muffled sobs of Harry that slowly die down as he falls asleep in Zayn's arms, a singsong of I'm sorrys and soft kisses on his head lulling him back to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm sorry for making these shorter each time but i have many different stories that i want to tell and i feel like getting them all in one chapter would defeat the whole point of it being in chapters. i promise when we're back to action, they will be a little longer.
> 
> i hope you like it anyway.
> 
> also by request of my sister i'm making a little disclaimer, though i figure you've all guessed this by now: if you see any racial or mysoginistic slurs or comments or anything, please remember they're merely the characters acting somewhat accordingly to the era they live in. 
> 
> ps. there's smut here so read at your own discretion

There's a bottle of rum on the table and only Louis and Niall are awake in the entire ship. Ever since they were aboard Zayn's ship, which Niall has only learned now that it's called Ignition, the two of them have been spending a lot of time together, mostly because Liam is still upset at Louis for ruining the whole sneaking in thing by being his usual loud self. It's a good thing, though, because Niall hasn't been able to stop thinking about his conversation with Harry and if he doesn't ask Louis about it soon, he feels he might start nagging everyone else in the crew until he gets to hear their life stories, which would probably get him kicked out, and he really doesn't want to go back to working with fish.

  
So after pouring another glass of rum, Niall decides to take the chance. Louis seems sober enough to remember, and drunk enough to answer his questions, so it's a good a time as ever. "So how did you all end up on this ship, anyway?" He asks, interrupting whatever drunk rant Louis had started on. "I mean, Harry mentioned something about not being from old pirate families?"

Talking about Harry in front of Louis is never a good idea and Niall should have learned this by now, because apparently Louis is unable to think of Harry without immediately thinking of Zayn and the thought alone makes his blue eyes shoot flames. However, right now he seems to be tipsy enough to ignore this, which is rather relieving. "Harry knows shit about us. But if what you wanna hear is our crew's history you've come to the right guy. I know everything about everyone. Who do you wanna hear about?"

"Liam." Niall says after giving it some thought, reckoning Liam's story is probably the one that started most of it all, judging from what Harry said.

"Oh, Liam's is a good one. Just don't tell him I told you about this, because there's some bits he'd rather forget, and he doesn't like people talking about them." Louis sits back, his glass on his hand, and he takes a long gulp before getting started, his tone making it look like he's about to impart some sort of wise advice on Niall. "Liam was a normal kid, you know, grew up in a small town like yours and everything. His dad had been a big Navy hero and he'd died when he was a kid, and his mom's the sister of the Governor, so he had it pretty easy, except for, you know, the part where he didn't have a dad. That wasn't fun. And he'd been told so many great stories about him that even though he'd never seen him, he felt like he missed him and he just wanted to be sure he'd make him proud, so he decided he'd get into the Navy and be a big hero like his dad had been. So basically, he studied and trained and devoted half his life to becoming the best he could be, until he was old enough to go apply, and that was when things started to go wrong."

Louis suddenly drops his elbows on the table along with his glass, possibly for the dramatic effect alone.

"I, for one, can't understand how Liam's mother didn't foresee this happening if she knew her son was applying to the Navy. My theory is that he didn't tell her he was doing it until after he'd done it, probably because he feared she might try to talk him out of it to keep him from suffering the same fate as his dad. Anyway, the thing is, when he went to apply, the Navy guys politely told him they had a very strict policy on taking children from pirates. So yeah, you see how Harry knows shit about us, because Liam turned out to be the son of this well known pirate that had been hung for his crimes. This was all kind of shocking for our little puppy eyed hero, and after crying to his mom about it, he was at a loss for what to do with his life. You have to understand, Liam had literally trained since he was six to be a good sailor, he couldn't just go waste those skills in some whale ship. And here, as usual, a lovely lady sweeps in and saves the day. You know Jade, our terrifying cook? Well, she worked at Liam's house. She had no family, so Liam's mom had taken her in and she was really close to Liam. But our heroine had a secret, because her dad was also a pirate, and he was very much alive and in touch with her. So she told Liam that if he really wanted to, they could both run away and join his crew, since her dad had offered to take her aboard many times before. And that's how Liam got on this ship, basically."

When Louis falls silent, Niall frowns and crosses his arms over his chest. "You expect me to believe he joined a crew at sixteen and magically became the captain of the ship so soon after?"

"Oh no, there was no magic there. There was just lil' old me."

Sometimes, it's very hard not to slap Louis.

"You see, there was a huge battle and not many of the crew came out alive. Jade's dad was killed, and so was his second in rank, and there's no real criteria for what to do in those cases. Usually, the crew end up following whoever's the most skilled one and they end up choosing some natural born leader as their new captain. Here, Liam was by far the obvious choice. I know what you're thinking, but I swear to God even surrounded by all these middle aged pirates who had been sailing the seas for years, Liam still was the best. He'd worked so hard on preparing that there was no area in which he didn't excel, and the crew knew this, but they refused to give in and take this boy as their captain. So when Liam decided they'd land on Tortuga to stock up their supplies, they were going to kill him. And Liam wasn't going to fight back, because he's too nice for that. Luckily for him, I happened to be on the run from my previous pirate crew, and I stumbled upon their ship right when they were setting sail, and his crew was almost about to take out their knives."

It's so obvious how he pauses just to see how long it takes Niall to ask for more, that he's regretting having ever asked him. He should have asked Perrie. "So what did you do?"

"I told Liam to fight back. I literally pushed him into the fight, I knew nothing about the guy but I could tell he was being held back by some stupid angel sitting on his shoulder telling him murdering people was wrong, and if he didn't get rid of it soon he was going to die. It sounded dumb to me, so I screamed at him to defend himself and it was like I'd pushed the right button. You should have seen him. You should see Liam in a battle, it's magic. He has this grace when he moves, so accurate he never wastes a second. The few that managed to fight him and escape threw themselves off board because they realized fairly quickly they had no chance against him now that he'd been unleashed, and then there was just me, him and Jade. And then we started recruiting people."

Louis shrugs his shoulders, and there's a shiver down Niall's spine because he keeps forgetting these people are pirates, they've all murdered someone and moved on with their lives. Having it reminded like this, in a story told so freely as if he was discussing some childhood anecdote, it's a bit like a slap on the face. The way Louis' eyes sparkled when describing Liam's battle skills terrifies him, because of course that is something Louis would find appealing, that Liam can put a sword through someone's heart.

It's too late for them to manage being awake and they're too drunk as well, so even though they're supposed to be on watch, they both fall asleep at some point. A couple of hours later, Perrie shakes Louis awake, and neither of them can bring themselves to do the same with Niall. He just looks so comfortable in his chair, all curled up, that Perrie silently takes Louis' place and gestures for him to go to bed. She usually does her watches alone, since she's not exactly the chattiest person at four am, but doing it with a soundly asleep Niall doesn't seem to require much talking, so Louis figures they'll be fine.

He should go to bed. He really, really should. But his buzz is fading away, and he knows even if he goes to bed, he won't get to sleep. He can't sleep when he knows Liam's mad at him because he fucked up an important thing, it weighs too heavily on the back of his mind, so before he even knows what he's doing, he finds himself knocking on Liam's door. Being the time of the night it is, he doesn't expect him to be awake, so after waiting for about half a second, he goes in. In every ship he's ever been in, the captain's cabin is the biggest room and usually the only one that looks like an actual room. The Midnight Sun, as always, doesn't follow the standard. The original captain's cabin was transformed into a sort of mini hospital where the ones that get wounded in battle can sleep in proper beds instead of their usual hammocks, and Liam's sleeping in a tiny room that used to be where they kept the bigger weapons.

Walking in there and seeing him all curled up in a bed that might be big compared to what the rest of them sleep in, but it's definitely too small for him, in his extremely modest room, it all makes Louis' heart ache. It's not normal, nothing about them, their ship or their crew is normal, but they- they are particularly far from normal. He knows how wrong it is for him to be feeling this warm inside when looking at his captain, and yet there it is. The motherfucking butterflies fluttering around in his stomach. It's sickening. 

But it's also irresistable, so he walks up to Liam's bed and takes a moment to watch him sleep. He looks so incredibly peaceful, with his arm thrown over his shoulders, that if Louis didn't know any better he'd think he's actually having some kind of wonderful, calm dream. But Louis has known Liam for too long, so when he rolls over somewhat violently, he doesn't flinch. People like them, who have done the things they have, they never have dreams. Only nightmares.

It isn't until he shivers that Louis reaches out, softly brushing his arm with his fingers. That's all it takes for Liam's eyes to shoot wide open, and he sees a flash of his defensive expression before he spots him in the darkness and relaxes. 

"Hey," he mumbles, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand as he sits up. Louis stands by the side of his bed, unsure of what to do next. He doesn't even remember why he came here in the first place by now, but he woke Liam up so he really should say something.

"I'm sorry about today." He starts off in a shaky voice, but then Liam's hand is grabbing his wrist and he's got that concerned look on his face that makes all the speeches he had prepared for this disappear. "I know I fucked up, I'm sorry, I should have- I should have stuck to what you said. And maybe we wouldn't have lost any of our crew."

Because that's what this is really about, isn't it? He knows Niall and pretty much everyone else think he's just upset to have disappointed Liam. They think he's used to this, after a lifetime of piracy, to having casualties in every battle, and it's not like any of his friends died today. But even if they weren't his friends, Louis still feels responsible for all of them, every single one. He might not show it as much as Liam does, and he might not embrace it either, but he cares just as much, and to think that maybe if he had kept his mouth shut they could have avoided the fight -it kills him a little on the inside. And when Liam looks at him like this, he knows he sees through him and can tell exactly how much he's hurting over it.

"It's okay, Lou. There's no point in thinking about it now, and my plan wasn't even that good to begin with." Liam speaks softly, that low voice he only ever uses when it's just the two of them. His thumb is tracing circles against Louis' wrist, and he decides to focus on that to silence all the voices in his head. "Don't blame yourself. They all know what they're signing up for when they get on board."

"But they had Niall, Liam. He's just a kid, and he's so innocent, he can't have possibly known what he was signing up for. I nearly dragged him aboard. What if something had happened to him?" He knows he's freaking out, overreacting probably, because the truth is Niall isn't four years old, and they may have taken him but he's back unharmed, but he just can't bring himself to breathe properly.

Liam tugs on his wrist and it happens. They keep falling back into this, and every single time it feels as natural as breathing to let himself be led into Liam's arms, to be kissed by him. Their lips crash and Liam's fingers get tangled in his hair, pulling him as close as he can while Louis crawls on top of him, sitting on his lap. Kissing Liam, his tongue exploring his mouth in that way that makes his knees go weak, his fingers tugging at his hair ever so softly, it's exactly what he needed. He's known since the first time it happened that this brings him back to earth, that it's his lifeline, but it's impossible to accept. He can't even bring himself to think about it unless it's actually happening, because it's wrong, even if it feels like the only thing that's right in his entire life.

Liam kisses him as if he knows he's nearly breathing his self control back into him, and Louis lets his hands roam over his chest until he reaches the hem of his shirt and tugs on it until Liam breaks off the kiss long enough for both of them to start getting rid of their clothes. They kiss messily as they do it, as much as they can, because Louis is pretty sure they both know if they stop for more than a second, they'll think it over and stop. And he really, really doesn't want to stop.

They've done this enough times to know how to handle it, though they figured out most things the very first time. Feeling Liam's hard cock pressed up against his thigh was enough to get Louis' mind racing back then, and it's more than enough now to remind him exactly of what he wants to do. He wraps his long fingers around it and starts wanking him, while Liam presses kisses on his neck and shoulders. It's lazy and slow, and Louis can't have it like that. Not when his mind is still racing with images of what happened at Zayn's ship. He needs more, so he puts his hand on Liam's cheek and presses his thumb against his bottom lip until he catches the hint and sucks on it. It sends a shiver that goes straight to Louis' own dick, and it takes him a second to remember what he was about to do.

Very softly, he rubs his thumb over Liam's hole, and he bites down on his shoulder as soon as he feels it, hard enough that Louis has to bite down on his lip to keep himself from groaning loudly. He can feel how he's slightly loose already, and it reminds him that it hasn't actually been that long since this last happened, which is also on the list of things he doesn't want to think about. Instead, he pulls away and ignores Liam's whimpering at the sudden loss of contact to feel around under Liam's bed until he finds the bottle of oil he knows he keeps there for this purpose.

It's so easy, so natural, how he slowly adds more fingers until he's scissoring them inside him and Liam's letting out a very long list of curses, with his name slipped in a couple of times. He only remembers to stop because his own cock is so hard it's almost painful by now, and if he doesn't get inside him soon, he'll come just from hearing him say his name in that raspy grunts that keep coming out of his mouth.

He's sliding down Liam's body, when he puts a hand on his shoulder and stops him. Without saying anything, Liam turns over, and Louis stops breathing for a whole two seconds. The whole thing is terrifying, and he can't understand why they do it, why they need to do it, or why they like doing it this much, but this- having Liam like this, his legs spread open, so vulnerable, this makes him forget about all the questions. It makes him feel like Liam's his for a moment, like he's giving himself up to him completely and trusting him in a way no one's ever trusted Louis before. 

Very slowly, he aligns himself and puts his hands on Liam's hips before sliding in. He bottoms out and doesn't move until Liam looks back at him and nods. "Please, Lou," he mutters, as if Louis needed any other kind of incentive to get going. It's the best thing he's ever experienced, fucking Liam like this. After the first few shaky thrusts, Louis gets a solid rhythm going and he's trying not to be too rough, but Liam starts meeting him in each thrust with a movement of his own, as if he couldn't get enough. No matter how hard he tries not to think about this when the daylight comes, Louis can't ever shake the image of Liam needing him this bad off his mind, and he's not sure if he even wants to.

He suddenly notices Liam's holding all of his weight with just one arm, and he's jerking off with his other hand, so he starts going harder, slamming into him until he can feel him start to shake and he leans over him to cover Liam's mouth to muffle the sound when he cries out as he finally comes. Liam bites down on his finger, and in a matter of seconds Louis' own orgasm is hitting him hard, making him shiver with each pulse. 

They sleep together, and Louis knows it's a bad idea. It's a terrible idea, actually, to be naked in bed with his captain, a leg draped over him, but he's too tired and he can't remember the many reasons why this is so wrong. Especially when right now, he's pretty sure he can write a much longer list of why it's perfect. Liam has an arm around his neck, and he pulls him closer to kiss the top of his head. 

"It really is okay, Lou. All of it." Liam's voice is cracked and he sounds exhausted in the best of ways, which makes Louis smile despite himself. It's not, they both know it's not, but for the time being, he feels pretty good about pretending.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> things i found out while doing research for this chapter:  
> \- people used actual oil as lube  
> \- 
> 
> historical inaccuracies (probably, i honestly don't know, they are just things that happen that i was unsure of):  
> \- do pirates wear underwear  
> \- were blowjobs a thing back then  
> \- did pirates do watches on their ships  
> \- have i got any idea whatsoever of what i'm doing


End file.
